Quick Quotes: Jay Maisel

I was listening to Michael Reichmann interview Jay Maisel in the latest issue of the absolutely superb Luminous Landscape Video Journal (if you have never seen an issue of the video journal, you owe it to yourself to have a look.....see here) and really enjoyed what they had to say. Lots of words of wisdom from Mr. Maisel. Two that struck me are:

"People are more interested in the quality of their pixels than they are in the quality of their picture"

Jay Maisel

When discussing marked digital image manipulation after capture:

"I am not at all interested in showing how clever I am once I take the picture. My cleverness, if it exists at all, is in seeing something that's there and showing it to you"

Jay Maisel

A Bit Of Gift Giving Humor

OK, so this one isn't about photography! But sometimes I see something that I think would be fun to share. I really got a kick out of this little video about what happens when men mess up and give their spouse/girlfriend a gift that lacks thoughtful input......

Check it out here and have a laugh.

A Better Moustrap....The Flowerpod

In a past post, I wrote a brief review about the McClamp, a device used to hold a flower or plant steady when doing macro-photography. At that time, I mentioned that I thought the device was superior to the Plamp, a similar 'gadget' made by another company. Until the McClamp became available, the Plamp, for all its warts, was the device used for macro work while outdoors in the wind.

Well, it is now time for even McClamp to step aside for what I feel is the best aid in doing plant and flower macro work.......Les Saucier's Flowerpod. If you have read some of my posts about the Photography With Heart Workshops, you might recall Less as one of the three primary "With Heart" photographers.

So what exactly is so great about the Flowerpod? Well, Les has looked at all the problems that could occur with these devices as they now stand and, taking them into account, has re-designed clamping gadgets from the ground up. Actually, I hate to call it a gadget, which seems to be trivializing it.....anyone who has done outdoor macro knows how indispensable something like this is. Frankly, it very frequently means the difference between getting a sharp, well-composed image....or not.

So, what are the potential problems with the McClamp? As good as I thought it was, there were still some issues:

1) It had to be 'stuck' in the ground...a problem on rocky terrain

2) If you used the variety that clamps to the tripod (because the ground is rocky) any movement of the tripod while trying to recompose also moves the plant or flower.

3) You are out of luck if the plant is tall...unless you want to go with the clamp to tripod plan, which is very frustrating, as noted above.

3) Despite the soft foam in the clamp, I still would, at times, accidentally damage the stalk of the plant when trying to make fine adjustments to the flower's position. The reason for this is that you generally need to 'overshoot' in the adjustment to get the flower to be where you want it. At least that was my experience.

4) Not sturdy enough to hold a flashlight or, at times, a background.

The Flowerpod addresses and solves all these problems. Fist of all, have a look at it here.

As you can see, all four of the above issues are dealt with by the Flowerpod's carefully thought out design and yet it is still small, light, and very mobile! I could repeat all the information that is on Les' Flowerpod web page, but it would be easiest to simply have a look at it yourself. In addition, the illustrations with photos make the description much clearer than I can with words.

In brief, since I brought up the 4 points above, I will just mention that problems #1 and 2 are solved by having a tripod that holds the flower clamp so that it can be used in any terrain. Problems #3 and 4 are addressed not only with the tripod, but with a specialty clamp that can be easily adjusted in very fine increments.

Why am I going on and on about this? Let me say that I have no financial interest at all in the Flowerpod. I just like seeing a 'better' product that has had a lot of thought and effort put into it. And, as one that enjoys macro-photography and has suffered through some of the frustrations associated with it, I know this is a product that will help me nail more shots. So move over Plamp and McClamp....there is a new 'player' in town....check out the Flowerpod and see what you think.

Reality

I love when I run across a scene in which the camera records a truth that our minds simply can not believe. Such scenes force you to reassess what is real and how our minds are able to change reality. I find this idea fascinating and have previously written about it on Uwe Steinmueller's Digital Outback Photo.

When I first photographed this waterfall, I thought I was just taking a picture of the flowing water. But when I looked at the image on the LCD screen on the back of my camera I was truly surprised at the colors I saw but hadn't recognized in the water. Nonetheless, when I looked carefully at the moving water, there they were! I hadn't seen them because our brains tend to present 'filtered' information to us which is why, for example, a sheet of white paper still looks white to us even when it is next to a brightly colored object. However, when we take a two dimensional photograph of that paper and look at it out of context, our eyes can recognize the color cast on the white sheet.

Canyon Reflections

Copyright Howard Grill

So where is the color coming from in this image? On this particular morning in Zion National Park, the sky was a deep blue which was being reflected in the waterfall. The falls were located right next to a large canyon wall made of the region's famous 'red rock', and it is the light reflecting off of this red rock and striking some areas of the water that imparts the pink coloration.

The other thing that I enjoyed about making this image was the location. I am delighted when I can find something beautiful in a location where I wouldn't expect it. True, this image was made in Zion National Park, but it happened to be located in the unlikely location behind an old maintenance shack where a good portion of the grounds were being used for storage

Zion

This is another image from the recent workshop that I attended in Zion National Park. I think this image has, in one shot, many of the characteristics that are so special about Zion.....the cottonwoods, the canyon walls, and the Virgin River. When I look at this photograph I really get a feel of the 'Zion Experience'. The park is truly a place that everyone should get a chance to visit.

"Zion"
Copyright Howard Grill

In addition, this is another of the type of images that I mentioned in my post entitles "Seeing". Though these exact elements are obviously not present where I live, there are very reasonable replacements...trees, water, rocks......all that I need is the right mindset. That mindset, as opposed to a lot of nice images (though it is nice to get them as well), is the most valuable item that can be brought home from any workshop!

When Is It Done, Revisited

I have previously written about my difficulty in knowing when to stop trying to 'perfect' an image. I ultimately end up reaching a point where I might be continuing to make minor tweaks to an image, but deep inside know that no one besides myself are likely to notice them. Likewise, when making an actual print, I need to limit myself when I reach a certain point lest I continue to try to make better versions ad infinitum.

In regards to this topic, or at least directly applicable to this topic, is a wonderful podcast that I heard today. While I enjoy all the Lenswork podcasts (in fact, I have them all archived on my iPod) I found this one to be of particular interest to me. So check out the Dec 2nd Lenswork podcast called "The Myth Of Tonal Control".

LR/Enfuse For Blending Multiple Exposures

Maybe everyone out there already knows about Timothy Ames' LR/Enfuse, but I sure didn't. For that reason, I thought I would post some information in case anyone else out there is as in the dark as I am. I found out about the Lightroom plug-in when I happen to run across a positive review of it in Photoshop User.

So what does LR/Enfuse do? It is a plug-in for Adobe Lightroom that allows one to blend multiple exposures that were taken of the same image in order to get a final image that preserves both highlight and shadow detail (for when the dynamic range of the scene exceeds that of the camera's sensor). There are various non-HDR techniques to blend images, usually involving one exposure taken for the highlights and another one taken for the shadows. However, LR/Enfuse allows you to blend multiple shots easily.

I downloaded and installed the plug-in yesterday and am very much looking forward to giving it a try. I am not very fond of the "HDR look" myself and so am looking forward to seeing what type of results I might get from the plug-in. As I said, it has gotten great reviews.

Want to give it a try yourself? It can be downloaded here. There is a trial version available for free (limited only in the maximum file export size), but I went for the unrestricted version, which only requires that you make a donation of any size to Mr. Ames to support developing the program.

Adobe Photoshop CS4 Upgrades

There has been some interesting discussion on the Adobe forums as well as on several blogs about the upgrade path to Photoshop CS4. This effects me personally, so I thought I would interrupt my posts about the Zion workshop I attended to write (rant) about the upgrade issue.

When Photoshop CS3 was released, consumers were faced with the option of upgrading to CS3 or the CS3 Extended version. The differences to me were initially a little vague, as I suspect they were to a number of people. The new extended version was to have 3D tools as well as some other image stacking options that I thought were not in the Non-Extended version. The 3D tools were, indeed, unique to CS3, though I believe the stacking options were actually available in the Non-Extended version as well. I decided to go with the brand new Extended version as I wondered if I might find some of the tools useful....if I ultimately found that I didn't need them I thought I would just end up going back to the Non-Extended version with the next Photoshiop release. Even though it was another $100-150 or so I figured I would give the Extended version a try and see what it was all about. Or so I thought.

I ended up never using any of the options or tools that were unique to the Extended version of Photoshop. Out comes Photoshop CS4 and CS4 Extended. My plan was to upgrade back to the Non-Extended version of Photoshop CS4. As it turns out, there is no upgrade path being made available by Adobe back to the Non-Extended version. Apparently, they want the consumer to be 'locked in' to the more expensive Extended version. Once 'Extended' always 'Extended'.

Now, this seems particularly unfair to me. Certainly I wouldn't have made the Extended choice had I known that I would be locked in for another $150 cost with each and every subsequent Photoshop release. I am not the only consumer who feels this is unfair. Apparently some Adobe employees do as well. John Nack, in his blog speaks about the lack of on upgrade path back to the Non-Extended version (I call it an upgrade-downgrade). In his post from the end of September he talks about Adobe preparing an upgrade path from Extended to Non-Extended. Unfortunately, either this has not occured or has occured in a somewhat obscure and rather opaque fashion.

What do I mean by obscure and opaque? Well I (and many others in different posts) asked questions about the whole upgrade route on the Adobe Forum. One responder states that if one calls tech support (but not customer service) they will give you an unlock code to make the upgrade that will work only once and only be active for about an hour. Now, I don't know if that is true or not, and, frankly, I won't be able to find out because I can't make that call in front of my home computer during 9-5 business hours. However, even if it is true, is this, as they say, any way to run a business? What if I buy a new computer and want to reinstall the program? What if the program crashes or gets corrupted and I want to reinstall it? What about putting it on my laptop? What about.....well you get the idea. You can read the forum thread here.

It seems to me that Adobe should allow the upgrade from the Extended to Non-Extended versions (which seems only fair), and allow it as a clearly stated option with a distinct and easy mechanism for anyone to do the upgrade without jumping through all sorts of hoops. I am sure that from a programing standpoint this can not be all that difficult. It is equally hard for me to believe that the Adobe marketing division could not or did not anticipate this sort of problem.

OK, I am done with my rant now!

Seeing

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently returned from a Photography With Heart workshop in Zion National Park. Scanning through some of my favorite images from the park, I noticed something interesting. Though the presence or 'feel' of the park was in them all, when I broke the images down to their basic components they consisted , for the most part, of things that I could find right here in Western Pennsylvania where I live.

Consider this image entitled "Backlit Cottonwoods". At its most basic, it is 'simply' an image of colorfall backlit trees with fall foliage. I was drawn to the scene not only because of the intense color of the backlit trees, but also because I enjoyed composing it with the diagonal lines of the mountains on either side of the trees along with the hazy, distant canyon wall in the background. I felt that the diagonals added something special to the image and that the canyon wall in the background, together with the classic cottonwoods, gives the photograph a decidedly 'Zion' feel.

Backlit Cottonwoods
Copyright Howard Grill

When I go on a workshop I go with a mind that is hopefully open and 'ready' to try to be creative. I think it is quite natural to have that feeling when going away on a trip. But when I think about it, the basic components of the "Backlit Cottonwoods" image are all around me, even now that I am back home. There are plenty of trees with fall foliage here, and one only has to go at the proper time to find them backlit. True, I may not have a canyon wall available to put in the background, but is that really the essence of the image? Wouldn't the image also work well with the terrain that I have available here at home used to frame the trees or provide leading lines? I think it would!

One of the things that I hope I have accomplished at the workshop is to learn to discard the state of mind that says you have to go 'someplace special' to make special images. Sure it is fun to go away, and a change of scene always spurs creativity, but that should only serve as a stimulus to return home and harness that creativity to make images where you spend most of your time living. One of the things that I hope that I have brought home with me from the workshop is an enhanced ability to be open to 'seeing' what surrounds me the 99% of the time that I am home. If one can do that, I think the odds of making meaningful images increases quite dramatically!

Where I've Been

I just returned from another superb workshop week with Nancy Rotenberg, Les Saucier, and Don McGowan (Photography With Heart Workshops). The workshop was in Zion National Park, a place of indescribable beauty. One of the key aspects of the Photography With Heart Workshops is that though the technical is taught, the journey goes beyond this aspect of photographing and well into the much more difficult process of learning how to see.

While I am spending time sorting through the images I took, I thought I would show another recently taken "landscape in stone" from my rock photography project.

Mountain Sunrise
Copyright Howard Grill

Another Rock Abstract

I have been spending a bit more time photographing some of my rocks that I have written about before. I call this image "Mount Sinai", as it evokes in me the idea of 'something' coming down from the heavens to the top of a mountain!

"Mount Sinai"
Copyright Howard Grill

Doing Too Much: A Change In Workflow

Lately, I have been re-examining various aspects of my workflow and have come to the realization that I am doing too much. I am not talking about having too many projects (though that may also be true...I have found that the more you have going on the less you actually accomplish). Rather, I am talking about what I am doing to my individual image files.

In an attempt to reach my view of 'perfection', I find that I end up making many small adjustments to various parts of the image that probably have little effect on the final print as well as deciding after conversion from RAW that I prefer the image with a marked boost in contrast, color temperature, saturation, etc. At that point I may have so many layers that it would become time consuming to go back and rework the RAW file and so I make the adjustments on more layers in Photoshop. To warm or cool the color temperature in a reversable way I end up merging the entire image to a new layer and applying a photo filter, which further bloats the file. Sometimes, by the time I am done in Photoshop, I am now getting the sense that I have pushed the pixels too far in many instances.

I have made a change to my workflow that I hope alleviates this problem. Previously, I was using PhotoKit Sharpener (fantastic product) for both capture sharpening and output sharpening (and creative sharpening, if needed). There was a downside to this (and many upsides). The downside was that despite the ability to open an image coming out of Lightroom or Camera RAW as a smart object, I could not do so because PhotoKit would not work if the background layer was a smart object.

As it turns out, the newer versions of sharpening in Lightroom and Camera RAW were designed with much input from Jeff Schewe and the late Bruce Fraser. This sharpening was actually designed to implement capture sharpening only....and I had not been aware of this. So now I am using the sharpening in Camera RAW or Lightroom to apply my capture sharpening. The downside to this is that it is going to take some further learning and experimentation to implement. Capture sharpening in PhotoKit Sharpener was much easier....you just picked your camera resolution and clicked a button. However, the upside far outweighs this. For one thing, the file sizes are going to be smaller without the capture sharpening layers (one could flatten them into the background layer, but I never did) and, most importantly, if I decide I want a significant change in contrast, exposure, color temperature etc I can simply click the smart object and make the adjustments to the RAW file (and even change the capture sharpening settings) and have them applied to the entire image (assuming I haven't duplicated the entire image onto a separate layer for some reason, which does occasionally happen).

In this way, I can make post-processing changes while leaving the pixels less 'manipulated'. I should mention that I still use PhotoKit Sharpener for my creative and output sharpening. I do think that I am going to be happier with this method of working.

Jennings Environmental Center

Jennings Environmental Center is the only area in Western Pennsylvania in which Liatris spicata, the Blazing Star, grows. It was the first Pennsylvania reserve to protect an individual plant species. The Blazing Star grows on open prairies, frequently in the midwest, and Jennings is a relic prairie ecosystem, which is quite rare in Pennsylvania. The Blazing Star blooms at the end of July and beginning of August, so you will have to wait until next year to see them!

Liatris spicata In Meadow
Copyright Howard Grill

Liatris spicata
Copyright Howard Grill

Of interest, Jennings is also home to the endangered massasauga rattlesnake (I have never seen one there myself...so no photos of those).

Photographer's Rights: Yet Again

I have previously written several posts about photographer's rights in general, as well as occurrences that have happened to me personally. Those posts can be seen here, here, here, and here.

Here is a post from the Photo Attorney blog discussing the TSA statement that people taking pictures of trains can be questioned in certain circumstances. The discussion ends with the suggestion that unless one is trespassing or there is 'reasonable' suspicion of a crime (defining reasonable is always problematic) the 'suspect' need not comply with questioning. Of course, depending on the situation, this might well be difficult!

Very interesting reading! Maybe we all need to get the "I'm a photographer not a terrorist T-shirt".

The Bourne Series

Today, a brief break from photography....hey, I'm allowed to do that.

One of the benefits of having teenage boys with great senses of humor around is that they share with you the things they find funny. Sometimes that can be well....not so funny. But this time, when one of them called me down to watch a YouTube video it was really hilarious. At least I thought so.

To appreciate this you have to be a fan of the Bourne series. You know, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and the Bourne Ultimatum. I loved the films. So don't bother watching this spoof if you haven't seen the films as you will just shrug and wonder what it's all about. But if you have seen them....prepare to laugh.

See here.

Vincent Laforet's Take On The Closure Of PhotoShelter

As readers of this blog may be aware, I recently decided to discontinue my short-lived microstock experiment in favor of submitting to Alamy and PhotoShelter. After the experience, I questioned why anyone would want to sell their images for $0.25 to $1.50 per download. Unfortunately, PhotoShelter, which I was particularly attracted to because of their active and vocal stand against microstock agencies (70% to the photographer and no images allowed that were also being sold on the micros), has shut their doors.

What really concerns me is that this closure has the feel of microstock 'winning'. There really were only two non-micro stock agencies that I know of that were:

Willing to accept new, unproven photographers purely based on image quality
Willing to accept photographers that have 50 images as well as those with 5000
Not Microstock
Offerings not limited to mainly lifestyle shots

Interestingly, when I posted this on the new Stock Imaging Forum, someone responded that the fact that the older, more classic stock agencies had been unwilling to accept photographers based purely on image quality and not on their being established or having thousand of images may have also played a significant role in the current situation and allowed microstock to rise. There was no place else for people to go. Surely that is not the only precipitant, but it probably didn't help matters any.

At any rate, here is Vincent Lafforet's take on the situation at PhotoShelter.

Canon Teaser

I am not one that necessarily gets excited about the release of every new digital camera or piece of equipment. That said, the hoopla surrounding new releases is always fun to watch, and it is always interesting to see what is the 'latest and greatest'.

With that in mind, for those that have not yet seen it, I present the link to Canon USA's 'teaser' for their upcoming new dSLR release. This release has been widely touted as being the replacement for the 5D. No real information here, but it certainly confirms (beyond unsubstantiated rumors) that something new is coming. With increased competition, it would be nice to see a full frame dSLR with the newest processors at a more reasonable price point.

The Twin Jewels Project: Published

I have previously written several posts about my Twin Jewels Project, a personal project photographing McConnell's Mill and Moraine State Parks, both of which are about an hour's drive from my home. I had several periods of uncertainty during the project, but kept pushing forward. I truly appreciate the comments and encouragement that folks on this blog gave me along the way.

I am pleased that the project has led to the publication of an article and photographs in Nature Photographer magazine. So, if you happen to run across the Fall issue at a bookseller....check out "The Twin Jewels of Western Pennsylvania" on pages 82-85.

In some ways, I would like to think of this as the culmination of Stage I of the project. I am wondering if anyone who has had a project of local interest published has been able to then continue showing it. If so, I would certainly appreciate any ideas. I am thinking along the lines of publishing in other local magazines, local slide shows, local nature or conservation groups etc.. If anyone has done these sort of things I would appreciate any tips as to how to get started, make contact etc.....

I had sent in 20 images to be considered along with my article about the history of these parks, knowing that only a few would be chosen for publication. The following images are the ones that the editors chose:

"Color In Motion"
Copyright Howard Grill

Interestingly, the image above, entitled "Color In Motion", is one that I had a good deal of doubts about as I had expressed in this post. To my surprise, the image was chosen as a full page photograph.

"Foggy Morning"
Copyright Howard Grill

I previously posted about "Foggy Morning" here.

"Icy River"
Copyright Howard Grill

I had posted about "Icy River" here.

"Peeking Out"
Copyright Howard Grill

"Peeking Out", an image from my series of posts about trillium.

"Hells Run Falls"
Copyright Howard Grill

This image of Hell's Run Falls was used as the half-page article opener and is one I almost hadn't submitted because I was uncertain about the composition (I didn't like the thin tree behind the falls) and because I thought the shutter speed was actually too slow, causing loss of definition in the thick 'strip' of water in the center of the falls.

Interestingly, some of what I felt were my better images did not get chosen for the article.

Anyway, I am quite pleased that after several years of photographing the parks I was able to get some portion of the project published for others to see. As I mentioned, any further ideas about how I might use the park images are welcomed and appreciated.

The Creative Digital Darkroom

I love Photoshop books. I've got tons of them. But, other than the requisite book explaining how to use the new features when an upgrade to Photoshop comes out, I have pretty much stopped buying them. For some time, I haven't found any books that seem to be directed to a true intermediate to advanced level, and most of them seem to rehash the same old things. At the most, I found that I could get some interesting tidbits from continued book purchases, but generally would have to wade through a good deal of the same old stuff to get there....it just wasn't time effective.

On somewhat of a lark, I recently made my first Photoshop book purchase in some time, entitled The Creative Digital Darkroom. The reviews of the book seemed to indicate that it was for intermediate to advanced users and I decided to give it a whirl, despite the fact that I had heard that before. After all, this one was by Katrin Eismann and Sean Duggan, and if you can't give a book by Katrin Eismann a chance, whose book can you give a chance to?

Well, it turns out that it is superb! To be honest, I have not yet finished reading it....but that is only because I am going through it slowly and carefully. Even the 'basic' review portion has lots of tidbits that are useful, including various techniques that I hadn't know about and which I have already put into use. Going through the book, I can see that there is a good deal more information that will be put into use. This text really is directed to the intermediate to advanced Photoshop user.

If you haven't bought a Photoshop book for some time (and even if you have), do yourself a favor and have a look at The Creative Digital Darkroom. This one is four thumbs up!

More Rocks

It has been a bit busy for me lately and so I have not had as much time to photograph as I might like. However, I am continuing to work on my rock project, which I have previously written about.

I just finished processing this image, which I composed because of the strong graphic shapes and contrast.

Three Rivers
Copyright Howard Grill

Because of the abstract qualities of these rock images I have also been trying to make black and white versions of them. In this particular case, because of the strong contrast and dominance of the shapes in the composition, I much prefer the black and white version to the one in color.

Three Rivers
Black And White Version
Copyright Howard Grill

As an aside, this abstract reminded me of Pittsburgh! As you might (or might not) know, Pittsburgh is famous for its three rivers. As a matter of fact, the prior stadium where the Pirates and Steelers played, now demolished, had been named Three Rivers Stadium.

So what are these three rivers? The Allegheny and the Monongahela Rivers come together to form the Ohio River right at a location called "The Point" in downtown Pittsburgh. The Allegheny and "The Mon", as it is known, come in and the Ohio goes out. Looks just like the black (or yellow/orange) shape in the image, except that the size of the 'rivers' are inverted as the single arm should be larger than the two that come together!

Adjusting The Color Yellow

I have frequently found adjusting the color of yellow flowers (or anything yellow for that matter) in Photoshop to be difficult. It seems hard to get the yellow color to be pure and saturated. Often, there tends to be a greenish hue to the yellow that seems hard to eliminate. Here is a great tip to help solve that problem.

Two Hot Photos Over At JPG Magazine

I received an e-mail yesterday from JPG Magazine that two images I had uploaded quite some time ago have become "HOT".

Check them out here and here. If you like them and are registered I would certainly appreciate your throwing a vote my way!

If you haven't discovered JPG Magazine, this is also a chance to familiarize yourself with it. It is, in my opinion, a magazine worth getting. I have a subscription myself and look forward to each new issue.

Big Companies Using Free Images

After my recent experiment with the microstocks (here and here), I had to wonder if it could get any worse than being reimbursed $0.25 per image. Unfortunately, the answer is that, yes, it can! See here. Who knows what the future will hold?

Photographer's Rights: The Wardrobe

I have previously written several posts regarding photographers rights in the city of Pittsburgh. They can be read here, and here.

I have recently found a 'solution'. I don't actually think it will make one bit of difference, but at least when I get asked to leave a location my point will be made without my even opening my mouth. And a bit of humor always helps get a point across as well.

So here it is......my new urban photography shirt. The image on Blogger is a bit small so let me tell you that it reads "I am a photographer (not a terrorist)"


Want one for yourself? I got it here. I have absolutely nothing to do with the company or sales.....I am just a satisfied customer!

More From Oregon

Two more images from the Oregon workshop I attended. These were both taken at the surreal Haceta Beach near Florence, Oregon. As it turns out, almost every beach we went to in Oregon was surreal. It's that good! If you have any interest in going, check out the workshop here.

Haceta Beach Sunset I
Copyright Howard Grill

Haceta Beach Sunset II
Copyright Howard Grill

Bandon Beach

One of the nice things about not doing photography professionally (of course there are lots of not nice things about this as well...such as never having enough time to do all the photographic things that one wants to) is that one can take all the diversions they want without worrying about getting certain projects done. One of my recent diversions has been to submit images to Alamy and PhotoShelter, both of which I was recently accepted to. This has entailed processing some of my older images that I have not yet gotten around to doing.

At any rate, one of the images I ran across and processed is one that I had started working on many moons ago and put down. I took the opportunity to complete and submit it.

One of the nice things about going back to older images is that they truly do bring back memories of having been at different locations. This particular shot was taken on a workshop with Nancy Rotenberg on the Oregon Coast.

Bandon Beach is truly a surreal place with amazing sea stack formations. The memory of the location is great, but remembering the great folks who I spent time with on that one week trip is even sweeter!

Bandon Beach Sunset At Low Tide
Copyright Howard Grill

Canon Quality Control

Shoot Canon?? So do I. Have you followed the complaints that inevitably occur with releases of new Canon cameras and, not infrequently, lenses? So have I.

Luckily, I personally have not had too much in the way of issues with my equipment....but many have. I ran across a blog that has had some interesting things to say about Canon's quality control. Read about it here, here, and here.

Making Rock Images: Part 3

I have previously written two posts on making rock images and they can be read here and here.

As I mentioned in one of the prior posts, if the rock sample is not polished (and they generally are not when bought through e-Bay... plus they are also less expensive when not bought polished) then it is best photographed wet, as the coating of water really brings out the color and contrast in the stone. I first had to try to figure out what exactly wet means. I discovered that it does not mean a pool of water on the rock surface. Yes, this will make the rock stay wet longer, but you will also get very small air bubbles as well as dust particles floating in the water that will be visible in the image. So wet really only means moist. Just a very light covering of moisture to make the surface of the rock wet without having a three dimensional pool of water is what you are aiming for.

The downside of such a thin coating of moisture is that it dries out very quickly. So here is what I do. I keep a moist washcloth next to the tripod and use it to wipe the surface of the rock and then compose. By the time I find something interesting the rock has dried out, so I wipe it down again to fine tune the composition and manually focus. If it is still moist (look at the edges of the viewfinder and see if the drying out is 'creeping in') I shoot. If the edges are starting to dry out, as they usually are, I hold the rock sample in place with one hand, wipe the area of the rock I am photographing with the washcloth using the other hand, and quickly make any fine adjustments needed to the position of the rock while looking through the viewfinder. Usually I don't have to refocus, but if there is time I might do that as well.

I have tried putting the rock in a bucket of water for a few minutes before shooting to see if it would 'saturate' and stay wet longer, but this didn't really seem to help.

What about lighting a wet rock...ah, the reflections and highlights coming off the wet surface....but there is a way around this and that is to use cross-polarization. I was thinking of writing a whole post about this technique but, frankly, I don't think I could do a better job than this....so have a read of it!

My Interesting Observation

I was away with my son for the last week, at the national fencing competition which, this year, was held in San Jose, California. Since he was competing, we didn't get to see much of San Jose, but we did get to go out on the night of July 4th.

We went to a large park near our hotel, where they had a music festival followed by fireworks. It was during the fireworks that I noticed something interesting. Needless to say, I was spending my time looking upwards. But when I averted my gaze to the crowd I saw something I hadn't expected. I saw a sea of cell phone LED panels pointed upwards. I don't mean one or two. I mean thousands upon thousands of people using their cellphones to take pictures of the fireworks. It was really quite odd to see.

I am not sure what it means in regards to photography in this day and age, but I thought it quite interesting that the people watching the fireworks were somehow not satisfied until they had documented the event with their cellphone cameras.

Out Of The Micros II

Though I certainly wasn’t planning to do more than a single post about my decision to slowly leave microstock sites, I thought I might write just one more to address some comments and e-mails I have received. Once again, I would stress that these are simply my personal opinions and I don’t necessarily mean them to be appropriate for others who may have different needs and/or goals.

1) I do not believe that the microstock industry is going to go bust nor do I believe that the failure of Lucky Oliver (a microstock site) is the harbinger of a larger industry-wide demise. On the contrary, I suspect that just the opposite is true. From what I have read, revenues at the major microstock sites continue to climb while they are on the decline at the macros. Surely, other micros will go under, but this just reflects the difficulty in new players competing with the established giants in the industry......the same holds true for every industry. I suspect that the Shutterstocks and iStocks of the world will continue to grow.

2) Moreover, as I mentioned in my prior post, I believe the ‘horse is out of the barn’. I suspect a critical mass of photographers and images are available on the micros such that it would be difficult for any group of people to stop the trend by deciding not to participate. That is one of the main reasons that persuaded me to give it a try. In the end, participating in it just didn’t ‘feel right’ to me.

I fully recognize that slowly pulling my 100 images isn’t going to make one bit of difference to the agencies that have them. In fact, even if the largest individual microstock contributors pulled their many thousands of images, I suspect it wouldn’t have much effect. If the majority of the major contributors pulled their images it might make the sites have a brief second thought, but then they would likely quell the revolt by reimbursing a few more cents per image (along the lines of the recent mini-uprising on Fotolia).

I suspect it is quite true that I stand to make much less on the ‘macros’ than the micros; in fact, I recognize that there is a very good chance that I might never make a sale there. But, for me, I would rather feel good about making nothing than feel bad offering my best work for a pittance, while making a few hundred bucks a year.

I do find myself wondering how this pricing model ever started. Who decided that an image should be sold for 5 or 10 dollars. Well, perhaps 5 or 10 might, in some instances, be reasonable, but for the photographer to get $1 or less from the sale? I am not familiar with the history of microstock, but why did people flock to the subscription model where they get 25 cents an image…..was it the promise of selling it 1000 times over?

3) I find that I don’t believe, as some have said, that the micros can be a place to develop a name or reputation that will allow one to move to the macros. In fact, I suspect just the opposite is true. My guess is that you probably do more harm than good to a photographic career if you get known as someone that sells their images for peanuts. Again, I have no proof of this, but my guess is that one would ultimately get further by working hard to make great images and offering them at appropriate price points (even if they get less sales and income) than by selling them at micro sites.

I personally do not find particularly believable the claim made by Corbis at their SnapVillage micro-site that ultimately their most successful micro shooters might be culled to become regular Corbis photographers.

By the way, why do the majority of micro shooters submit under a pseudonym? I don’t know, but I have always felt that if I am not proud enough of something to attach my name to it than I probably shouldn’t be doing it.

Someone commented to me that one reason for using a pseudonym is to sell the same royalty free images on micro and macro sites since that would make it harder for a macro buyer to find that the image he just paid top dollar for was available for a few bucks by searching for the photographers name on micro sites.

Whether the same royalty free image should be able to be sold on the macros and micros (after all, royalty free is royalty free) is another whole question (and I have decided not to do so). But, if you think it is right you shouldn’t have to hide the fact that you are doing so. That fails my ‘if it’s right you shouldn’t be ashamed of it’ test.

4) I do believe that the quality of the images that are currently being accepted on the micros are excellent. In fact, based on what I have experienced, I suspect the technical quality of the images are at least as good as on the macro sites. Which is why the buyers keep coming back. I just can’t understand (yes, I know, I was doing it myself) why the contributors are willing to accept the extremely low fee per image that they get. If I were a buyer for anything other than a large corporation the micros are probably the first place I would look as well.

5) I should mention that there are some images that, to me, do seem appropriate to sell on micro sites, but that is because I believe their value may well be what the micro reimbursement is. Colored backgrounds, quick shots of a location I might be walking by, images I am not interested in developing or working on etc., but not your best work.

I think there is ‘lots of stuff’ to think about here and certainly the answers I have come up with are purely personal ones. Maybe, as someone who is not a photographer by profession, I shouldn’t be offering my opinion, but, then again, this is a personal blog........

Out Of The Micros

I have, in general, always found myself trying new things instead of taking the word of others. Maybe that is unwise (if you jump off a building, do you really need to experience the impact to know that it is going to hurt?), but, on the other hand, I have always been one to want to prove things to myself and not simply take another's word and surely there is some wisdom to that. And so it was when I decided to see if my images (as opposed to my prints) might sell in the open market.

This question launched my experiment with the microstock agencies that I wrote about a few months ago. And the results of this experiment?

Well, my images do sell. And there is a certain 'kick' that one gets when a download is registered (which, by the way, is, I believe, the drive for many, if not most, micro contributors.....like a hit of a drug, you want more). But is it worthwhile? Is it reasonable? Is it respectful to your work? Having, to some degree, immersed myself in it for 4 or 5 months, I have my own personal answers to those questions. Like my original posting, my answers are certainly not the answers for everyone, they are just my opininon.

First off, the sales. I have been earning about $75-85 per month. Some might think this is a lot and others might think it is very little. Certainly, it is not enough to represent a meaningful amount of income to most people. The gain or loss of this much will not effect my (our most peoples) life style at all. But it has taken a reasonable amount of work to prepare images, spot them, keyword them, upload them etc. In and of itself, that is not necessarily a negative as artists can work for a long time on images to hang in a gallery or show and not necessarily make a sale. They have, however, for their efforts, had people enjoy their work and attribute it to them. They have shared their artwork with those wanting to see art. But for my efforts, does anyone know me better as an artist (yes, I know that microstock is not art, but people don't know me any better as a photographer either)? Have I had any bylines or copyright notices next to my images? Do people know the images are mine? One word answer. NO. In fact, the venture has, if anything, detracted me from my more artistic endeavors.

Who has been making the most money? Without question it is the microstock companies. I believe they are laughing all the way to the bank. For the photographer to get $0.25 to $3.00 for an image (with 99% of my sales being $0.25-$1.00), despite the fact that the image can be sold many times over is, I have come to believe, an insult. At least it seems an insult if the photographer is submitting their 'good' work to the agency. And it seems a bit absurd to try to sell your bad work.

Should I have realized this before giving the micros a try? Perhaps. There is certainly enough information out there to have let me come to these conclusions without giving it a try. I guess I had to prove to myself that the micros were not going to give me what I was looking for. As I mentioned above, I do think a big part of their appeal is the 'hit' one gets from getting a download that keeps people coming back for more. But I do think that when one steps back they find that the laugh is on them.

For whom do I personally think the micros are a reasonable option. I think for those that are trying to make a substantial portion of their income from micro shooting and who are shooting topics specifically for micro (ie business people shaking hands, smiling families) and who are spending their work hours, not their private time hours, doing it the micros might be reasonable. But I don't personally want to spend my private time making these types of images. I would rather work on my more serious artistic images. And I don't mind selling them, but I would like the price to reflect the passion, time, and effort that I put into making them.

So what are my plans from here. I have decided to slowly leave the micros. I have either deleted or requested account closure from most of them (some require 90 days notice). I have left my Shutterstock, iStock, and Dreamstime accounts open for the moment and have just started to submit many of these images to Alamy after having been accepted there. As images hopefully slowly start to get accepted at Alamy and other macro-stock agencies I will delete them from these remaining accounts. Of course, the images that were sold in the micros will need to be sold in the macro stock agencies as royalty free and new images can be submitted as rights managed. Theoretically, one can, by the letter of the law, continue to sell Alamy royalty free images on micro sites as well (though PhotoShelter, which I also plan to apply to, forbids this). However, I plan to just remove them from the micros nonetheless, for all the reasons I noted above.

Though I did it as well, I find myself wondering what had come over me and why anyone would sell their images for such low prices? Well, at least I was smart enough to figure it out and do something about it.

One thing I do have to say, though. And that is that the quality of the images at the leading micros are very high with every image being carefully inspected...which does make me wonder why many buyers would stick with macro agencies unless it is for images that are rights managed, so they know where the images have been. Though I no longer want to participate, with, literally millions of images available on the micros, the horse is, as they say, out of the barn. And it doesn't look like it is going back any time soon. I can see why it is a difficult time to be a professional stock photographer.


So, for me, the microstock experiment has come to an end.

When Is It Done?

I would like to take another brief interlude from the rock images to mention an issue that I have been thinking about lately.

I have noticed something in my own work and am wondering if others have had the same experience (yikes, could it really be just me?). When I am in Lightroom going through my RAW files to choose ones that I want to work on further, I will frequently make some quick changes to exposure and saturation etc and perhaps even open them in Photoshop to add a quick curves layer. I do this to try to quickly see the potential of an image since the RAW files are, by definition, fairly flat looking.

Using this process, I pick out images that I want to continue working on in order to ‘perfect’ them. I might work on a chosen image for quite some time. Some of the work is general to the image. By that I mean that it would be needed no matter how else the image was processed. I am referring to spotting the photo as well as cloning out errant objects as well as objects that I noticed ahead of time but could do nothing about, such as small signs and the like. Getting the crop right would also fall into this category.

But then I start working on the aspects of the image that are changeable and dependent on the ‘feel’ I want to give the photograph. This includes things like local contrast, saturation, fine tuning the exposure etc. The funny thing is that while sometimes the result looks far, far better than the starting point after the quick Lightroom adjustments, there are other times (and though they are not the majority, they are still not at all infrequent) when I look back at the quick starting point that I had generated only to find that, even after all the manipulations and effort, I like the starting version of the image better.

I wonder if there is something in those first quick adjustments that allows one’s intent or pre-visualization of the image to come out. Frequently, I wonder if I am doing too much to an image, or if the many minor adjustments that I might spend time making are even noticeable. I think knowing when to stop is a big hurdle to overcome, at least for me.

Anyone have thoughts about this?

More TinEye Invites

I am going to interrupt the brief series on rock abstract images that I have been posting to mention that, since giving away the prior twenty TinEye pre-approved invitations, they have given me twenty more. See here for more information about TinEye and its new image search engine.

So if anyone wanted a TinEye invite but couldn't get one from the last batch, I have more. Just make a comment to this post with a name and e-mail address and I will send one on to you!

Making Rock Images: Pt. 2

If you haven't had the chance to read Part 1 of this series, that post can be found here.

Hurdle #2: Focus

The images I have been making involve isolating small areas of stone that have interesting abstract patterns. This obviously calls for using a macro lens, and I have been using a Canon 180mm macro with a 1.4 teleconvertor. Because the magnification is so great, the depth of field is quite shallow, and, in my opinion, the toughest part of making images like this (aside from finding a great composition) is assuring edge to edge sharpness across the photo. In this post I thought I would share some of the aspects of achieving sharpness that I have worked out thus far.

There are two planes that should optimally be perfectly parallel to each other. These are the plane of the rock slab surface and the film or sensor plane. In addition, while the surface of the sensor is, for all intents and purposes, perfectly flat, the plane of the rock surface will not be. So where does one start?

My first step has been to make the back of the camera itself perfectly level to the ground while the lens is pointed downwards. This must be done in both the north/south and east/west planes. I check the 'levelness' with a short bubble level by placing the bottom of the level flat on the lcd sensor screen in both the north/south and east/west orientations.

I quickly found out that making such adjustments in two planes with a ballhead while the camera is pointed straight down is quite difficult. This is because when the ballhead is loosened the camera can move freely in both planes and thus it is very hard to adjust the camera's position in one direction only. My solution (without buying any fancy new equipment) is to separate the two plane adjustments. I do this by dropping the camera (mounted on a focusing rail which ultimately makes life much, much simpler) as far down as it will go into one of the ballhead slots. As long as the camera is as far down into the slot as it can go, the 'levelness' of the north to south plane will not change. That plane can now be made level by putting some cardboard underneath a tripod leg (or legs) to make the back of the camera parallel to the ground. Now the ballhead lock can be loosened and the camera rotated in the east/west direction until it is level in that plane as well. You can recheck the position in the north/south direction, but as long as you maintained some gentle downward force on the camera so that it is down in the bottom of the ballhead slot while rotating it east/west, the north/south leveling should remain intact.

Stone Trees
Copyright Howard Grill

The next step is to level the rock slab. Find a heavy flat object that will serve as the surface on which the rock slab to be photographed will sit. This surface now needs to be leveled in the north/south and east/west directions using the same level as for the camera and adjusted as needed by putting some paper or cardboard under the ends that need to be raised or lowered (when you live in a very old house the floors tend to not be truly flat!)

Now comes the part that ruins the perfection. I find that the rock slabs themselves, even if cut nicely, rarely are perfectly flat. In addition, the edges of the rock slab frequently have a ridge or ledge that lifts it off the surface on which it rests in an uneven fashion. This can sometimes be remedied by using a level and slipping a few pieces of paper underneath an edge of the slab where needed. Also, if the ridge on one edge is particularly prominent, I may let that edge extend off the surface it is resting on. Ultimately this can be a bit of an exercise in futility because I end up moving the rock around to get different compositions. I simply do the best I can with a reasonable effort. Even with these uncontrollable imperfections in the rock slab, the better you have leveled your camera and the surface on which the rock slab to be photographed sits, the better off you will be.

If anyone has any further recommendations as to how to ensure that the plane of the rock and the plane of the sensor or film are parallel to each other, please chime in!

Making Rock Images: Pt. 1

As I mentioned in my last post, I have started to make some abstract rock images after seeing some of Mark Graf's abstract gallery. I have also bought Bill Atkinson's book Within the Stone, which is absolutely gorgeous. After several sessions of trying, I have learned several tricks that have worked for me without buying any new equipment and thought it might be of interest to share them in a few blog posts....if I have time to process some images more fully I will display some of them as well.

Hurdle #1: Finding Rock

This one is pretty easy. Log onto e-Bay and search for Jasper Rock, Agate, Flint or any other type of rock you would like to photograph and start bidding. Bid on pieces that have been cut so that the surface to be photographed is flat (so that the entire surface can be in focus at once). It doesn't matter if the surface has been polished or not. As a matter of fact it is probably better that it is not. The reason is that the polished pieces have typically been cut for jewelry....that means that they often are not flat and, in addition, the pieces are smaller. You want a flat surface and the largest piece possible in order to search around for and isolate different compositions.

Oh, and now that I shared that with you, do me a favor and don't bid against me on anything!

In the next post I will talk about focusing without buying a copy stand.

First Try

Ever since seeing Mark Graf's gorgeous rock and petrified wood macro abstracts, I have been wanting to give this type of work a try. After reading up on cross-polarization (along with some e-mail assistance from Mark) and buying a few specimens, I gave it a go. This is the first photo that I have fully processed and I plan to try more of these types of images, as I particularly enjoy finding abstracts and patterns in nature.

Stone Rainbow
Copyright Howard Grill

Out Of Focus

Last Spring, after experimenting with photographing some wildflowers, I had written a post about purposefully throwing an image totally out of focus and making the photograph an abstract of form and color with no clearly defined shape. These are the images I had taken at the time.

Columbine
Copyright Howard Grill

Buttercups
Copyright Howard Grill

Recently, I was again experimenting with this idea, but was trying to work with it a bit differently. Rather than throwing the image totally out of focus, I threw it out enough to make it clear that the image was not simply poorly focused, but yet not far enough to totally loose the sense of underlying shape. I found the results to be compelling and very dreamlike in appearance, akin to the 'shoot through' technique where one places petals or other colored objects very close to the front of the lens while focusing on something a bit further out.

Floral Dream
Copyright Howard Grill

I am not quite sure if I am totally there yet, but find that I do like experimenting with this sort of image making and think it holds potential for conveying what I want to express while going 'beyond' the idea of selective focus and shallow depth of field. Does anyone else see anything interesting emerging from this, or am I just kidding myself here?

Quick Quotes: Margaret Bourke-White

"If you want to photograph a man spinning, give some thought to why he spins. Understanding for a photographer is as important as the equipment he uses."

Margaret Bourke-White

This concept has been verbalized by many, many photographers. I am just not sure I have 'heard' anyone say it better than Margaret Bourke-White.

TinEye Invitations

The folks at TinEye apparently saw that I had put up a blog post about them. As a result, they gave me twenty pre-approved invitations to give out to join their beta website. I will send them to the first twenty people that respond to this post by making a comment that they want one. In the comment you can leave your e-mail address and name, or, if you would rather not do that, you can e-mail me with your name and e-mail address. I do, however, request that you put a comment in the blog first so that people will see when the twenty invites have been given away (twenty comments) and not continue to fill my in-box with requests long after the invitations are gone. Then again, perhaps I am overestimating what the popularity of the site will be.

Well, no matter. If twenty people are interested, just post a comment and let me know your e-mail address. If there are already twenty comments....well, that's it!

Photoshop Disasters

Deep down, we all love Photoshop. But, sometimes, things can go a bit awry. With photography that generally means that we have ended up in the trap of oversaturation or poor contrast. In the field of graphic design things can get worse......much worse!

How much worse and how often? Turns out quite frequently. And not only work by amateurs....as you will see many of these bloopers are in ads put out by very large corporations. The errors, sometimes small, sometimes big, and very frequently funny have a place where they go for all to see and that place is a blog called Photoshop Disasters.

Check it out here and know that others have erred far worse than you!

Find Your Images On-Line

Ever wonder if any of your images are online, be it pilfered from you or being used with permission. I ran across a very cool search engine which aspires to be the Google for images. You simply give it the URL of the image or, even easier, right click on any internet image after installing a Firefox plug-in and the site searches for the image, or even a portion of the image, in cyberspace.

Here is the link.

A few downsides:

1) At this point in time only a small fraction of the images 'out there' are cataloged and searched.....about 500 million of them.

2) It is still in beta.

3) To try to use it you need to apply for an invitation. The good news is that I got mine via e-mail in about 10 minutes.

4) It didn't find my images on various critique sites where I know they reside.

But within limits it does work. If you go to a microstock site, where images are meant to be purchased for use, and search on a popular image it will return hits where the image has been used, even when the image has been cropped down etc.

Try it for some of your own on-line images. You might be surprised what you find, for better or worse!

Around The House

A week or so ago I had a bit if time, but couldn’t leave the house because I had to be home for one of my children. So I decided to see what I might ‘play with’ photographically while waiting. Sometimes, when I have nothing to do, I gravitate towards the fridge (does that happen to anyone else?). This time, while I was there, I decided that instead of eating I would photograph something….and perhaps reward myself by eating it afterwards. So I felt obligated to pull out something healthy.

I gravitated to some rather colorful bell peppers that were in the veggie bin. They seemed to have everything needed: color and shape. It was with great hesitation that I pulled one out, as all I could think of was that after Edward Weston nobody could or should ever photograph a pepper. Ah well, I did it anyway, or else I would have ended up eating something far less healthful.

Wet Orange Bell Pepper
Copyright Howard Grill

It was sort of fun to play around and decide that I had to shoot something that I could find quickly in the house. I suspect it is a pretty good exercise in training one’s self to see.

The Wall

I recently walked by a wall that had a mural painted on it. I had my camera with me and decided to take a few pictures. A funny thing happened while I was photographing. I realized that I was not taking pictures of the mural itself, at least not in the sense of taking a picture that would show someone what the mural looked like. Rather, I found myself making abstract photographs of little sections of the mural....smears of paint, lines, twirls of color.

When I got home and started looking at the images, I really liked what I saw. I was intrigued that there could be so many beautiful pictures within another piece of art that were never purposefully put there to stand alone.

As in the image below, there was a bit of glare in the photos because of the time of day I happened to be passing by the wall.

Copyright Howard Grill

I plan to go back at a different time of day and take some more photos in better conditions and to also try to do some of this type of photographing when I pass other murals or graffiti. I actually think this would make a nice little project of its own!

Another Use For The Flashlight

In my last post, I wrote about how having a small flashlight helped me to make a photograph better. I have been playing around with one ever since I read Les Saucier's flashlight article.

I recently found another benefit to having a small LED light. The other day I was making some macro photographs using a 180mm macro lens with a 1.4 TC and focusing manually. I was also using the flashlight to throw some supplementary light on the subject of the image. I had focused and was playing with the direction of lighting when it occurred to me that the light might also help with focusing.

So, I tried a little experiment. I focused manually, then added extra light on the subject and tried to see if the focus was still optimal. I was flabbergasted to find that the vast majority of times, even though I had been sure that my focus was right on, it, in fact, was able to be improved by re-focusing with the added light on the subject. Perhaps being off by a tad is not a big deal for many images, but for macro work it certainly is.....it can make or break the picture.

I don't know if it is my age, my eyes, or what....but I do know that now I will be using the flashlight to help me get that focus just the way I want it when shooting macro images.

The more I use this little light, the mire I like it and the more uses I find for it.

Flashlight Saves Image

I love photographing during Springtime. Last weekend I made my first of what is hopefully to be several trips to local wildflower areas. There was some early goldenrod blooming in isolated patches, and I spent some time with my macro lens making images of individual buds. While I was looking around (and getting the aches out of my knees and hips from crouching for so long), I happened to see a ‘bug’ nestled deep within the swirling leaves of an emerging plant. Though I recently wrote a few posts about the types of photographs I don’t frequently take, and one of them was insects, I couldn’t resist trying my hand at capturing an image of the little guy. I liked the pattern and color of the leaves and thought the best approach would be to take an ‘environmental portrait’ rather than trying to fill the frame with the insect’s head.

I needed some added illumination beyond natural light to properly photograph the insect in the recesses of the leaves and so I broke out my macro flash. However, after taking a few shots, I noticed a problem. The flash was generating distracting specular highlights in the water droplets on the leaves around the bug. Since one’s eye tends to be immediately drawn to bright highlights I felt the flash, while providing adequate illumination to make the photo, was, at the same time, detracting from it by drawing the eye away from the main subject.

I could try to change the position of the flash or to partially shade a portion of it, but I realized that besides the uneven lighting that might ensue, it would also be an exercise in futility as the results could only be seen after the shot was taken……and I only have two hands. Therefore, after evaluating the results on the camera’s small LCD, it would be impossible to exactly reproduce the lighting conditions that were present during the exposure, let alone change them in any type of controlled fashion.

But then I remembered the small flashlight that I had purchased after reading Les Saucier’s article that I previously wrote about. By holding the flashlight in one hand and the cable release in the other, I was able to make the exposure while looking through the viewfinder and seeing the effect of the lighting in real time, enabling me to minimize the specular highlights and produce an image that I found pleasing.

Copyright Howard Grill

Not only that, the flashlight enhanced my creative efforts. Though I ultimately ended up liking the most straightforward lighting the best, I couldn’t help but experiment with different ways of illuminating the bug. I tried using the flashlight to light the little guy from all different angles including backlighting him from behind the leaf. That might have worked if I had a second flashlight to throw a bit more light on the bug from the front as well. Nonetheless, I felt a bit better about not having a second light when I realized that I would then have to set off the cable release with my mouth!

The flashlight is definitely handy to have around. Why not give it a try!